Worm Origin Story: Muni logos through the years

The Muni Worm. You know it, you love it, you live it. Wait, you live it? How does that work?

SFMTA recently posted a brief history of Muni logos dating back more than 100 years. It all sets the stage for what has become quite the iconic brand: The Muni Worm.

The 1970s brought about some major changes in our transit system and among them was a whole new redesign of Muni’s look. In 1975, the most famous Muni logo of all, the “Worm”, designed by Walter Landor, debuted with a very 70s looking “Sunset” livery, as seen here on freshly painted Flyer trolley coach 5001. […] On a side note, Landor also worked on some other perhaps even more famous designs like the Levi’s, Federal Express, World Wildlife Fund logos and a 1980s Coca-Cola redesign.

In case you doubt just how prevalent the Worm is, here are some examples:

New sweatshirt features Muni worm, your mom
Another Muni worm tattoo surfaces
Find the Muni Worm in the strangest places

Okay, now I can kinda see how you live it …

The Muni Worm is an “Only in San Francisco” thing, just like the system it represents. Join us at Muni Diaries Live this Saturday for a celebration of Muni and San Francisco. It’ll be a night of true, hilarious, weird, and sweet stories that can only happen on Muni! Grab a ticket and we’ll see you there!

Photos courtesy SFMTA